2010 – Page 43 – Management Library

June 18, 2010April 27, 2022

The Feasibility Study is Obsolete

a NPO conducting a feasibility studies with an interviewee

For the last 50-60 years, a Feasibility Study has been “required” before planning and/or implementing a Capital Campaign, and its basic concept and structure hasn’t changed in all that time. I contend that it’s more than obsolete, it’s counter-productive.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t first determine the feasibility of acquiring leadership for and attaining the goals of a major fund raising effort.

Of course we must interview prominent members of the community, prior donors and prospective leaders/example-setters. Of course we want to determine if success is likely, even probable. Of course we want to begin the education and cultivation of those who will be campaign leaders and major donors.

But feasibility studies are designed to ask interviewees if they think the goal is feasible, if they think there are any individuals who could lead a campaign to its goal, if the “community” will support the effort. A typical question is, “With your knowledge of the community, do you think/believe that ‘this’ goal can be achieved?”

If you’re asking people if they think you can succeed, you give them the impression that you might not. Why plant the seed of doubt? In fundraising, a “Study to determine Feasibility” is really bad psychology.

Never ask if an interviewee thinks the goal is attainable? Avoid asking “if,” but rather work to create the impression that success is a given. Get people to buy into that success, then you’re more likely to succeed.

What if the answer is “No”? Those questions raise issues you don’t want raised.

If you’re planning (even thinking about) a capital campaign, please, for the sake of your organization and that of your community, don’t do a Feasibility Study !!

Let’s do Planning Studies or Research Projects, but no more “Feasibility Studies.”

Coming soon, discussions of Study Interviews and Confidentiality, and The Planning Study As The Real Beginning of a Program/Activity/Fundraising Effort.
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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising program?
Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll do our best to answer your question.

June 17, 2010March 28, 2023

Buy An Existing Business?

Can a nonprofit purchase a for-profit company and operate it as a social enterprise?

This question came up in a recent discussion on the npEnterprise Forum. Incidentally, npE is the official listserv partner of the Social Enterprise Alliance, and, with 7000+ global subscribers, has become the global commons for the social enterprise movement. Subscriptions are free and open to all. I’m one of the moderators.

OK, back to the above question. A lawyer (Arthur Rieman) replied: “In general, an exempt org that wants to engage in a transaction such as [this] can do so provided the transaction is properly structured and documented, on the one hand, and all of the relevant IRS and Attorney General (especially here in California) regulations are heeded. Depending on the actual facts of the situation, your legal counsel should be able to guide you and the organization’s Board of Directors through the processes necessary to make the transaction sufficiently transparent and in compliance with the relevant laws and rules should a regulator come knocking at your door.”

A foundation officer (Ken Ristine) replied (edited for length): “[This topic] demands particular attention to detail regarding how you structure such a deal. The question is, do you want to expose the nonprofit to the legal consequences of [potential product or practice] liability? Are your nonprofit board members willing to accept such a risk? In both cases the answer is probably No.

“One idea then is to structure the for-profit in such a way, say as a wholly-owned subsidiary, that it has its own formal corporate structure. That structure, including a separate board, creates a barrier between the for-profit and the nonprofit regarding issues such as operations, taxation, and liability. But, if the enterprise generates profit, all or part of the profit can flow to the nonprofit.

“This example is only a small look at what you have to deal with. You really need to get together with an attorney and accountant who understand these issues to hash out the details. You may need both someone with small business experience as well as another person who really knows the nonprofit law around structuring related organizations.”

So there you have it. Yes, your nonprofit (probably) can do it, but be sure to get good legal and accountant advice first.

Here’s a useful IRS web site on this: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96104,00.html

Copyright © 2010 Rolfe Larson Associates – Fifteenth Anniversary, 1995 – 2010
Author of Venture Forth! Endorsed by the late Paul Newman of Newman’s Own
Read my weekly blogs on Social Enterprise and Business Planning

June 17, 2010August 18, 2022

B is for Bliss

The word "bliss" printed on a ceramic mug

Many of you have probably heard the famous quote by Joseph Campbell to “follow your bliss.” So what is bliss? And how do you follow it, especially at work?

Ecstasy, paradise, heaven are a few of the synonyms used to describe bliss. I’ve heard bliss being described as the ultimate level or intense happiness. We all have had those moments of intense happiness when we feel true joy in all the cells of our body and being. When we are experiencing this blissful state we are fully alive and fully experiencing what makes us most happy. The challenge for many of us is being able to translate the feelings of bliss at work. How can we really do this?
Here is how I’m learning to do just that. If right now I had to put a face on bliss, it would be of my son, Garrett, who is 8 months old. He is pure bliss and emanates bliss from the inside out. Bliss is our natural state of being. It is what we are when we are born and what we can continue to access when we “just be it.” He teaches me how to follow bliss wherever I go pursuing whatever work is in front of me.
I’m learning how to get into the state of bliss more often while working. For me it’s easiest to do so late at night when it’s completely quiet while I’m inspired to write or create. I’m so present and in the moment that I don’t even realize that it’s 2am. I am completely just being and have become one with my work. It’s a blissful state. It’s like being what athletes might describe as the zone or experiencing the flow state.

Deepak Chopra in his book Creating Affluence: The A-Z Steps to a Richer Life, discusses the qualities of the unified field, the self – pure Being, which is the source of all abundance and affluence in the universe. He says that bliss is the most important quality of the unified field, which should not be confused with happiness. According to Chopra happiness is always for a reason. You are happy when you get something. But bliss is about being happy for no reason. “This bliss is where we come from; it is the nature of existence itself. In this state of pure bliss is the expression of pure love. It just radiates from you, like a light from a bonfire or dreams from a dreamer” And I would add like my son’s smile.

How are you following your bliss?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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June 17, 2010May 18, 2022

Ask HR: Do I have to complete the application if I already sent a resume?

An-office-man-writing-on-a-paper-in-his-office

The changes in the job market over the past few years have certainly impacted job seekers in a way that many of us have not seen before. For the first time in history, there are four generations of workers in the job market with each generation facing a unique challenge. Whether you are a recent college grad looking for your first opportunity or a victim of downsizing looking for your next career, the job search can be a very frustrating experience.
A question I often get from jobseekers is, “Why do I have to spend hours completing an online application if I already sent over my resume?”
The simplest answer to this question is this, “Because they asked you to.”
Honestly, it is really that simple. Every step of the application process is a screening tool for the recruiting team. The online and/or paper application should be completed in its entirety using the same care that is used on the resume. Proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar are essential elements in all communication with a potential employer (including setting up your profile on their online system). Additionally, follow all directions provided exactly and pay attention to the details of the instructions. Many online applications are programmed to screen out applicants based on your answers to key questions or whether or not the application is complete before a recruiter even gets to review the application. Even when the initial screening is done by the recruiter, incomplete applications (in most cases) will be screened out of the process immediately and all those qualifications you have for the job will never be seen by the hiring manager.
A question I often get from recruiters is, “Why can’t applicants just follow directions?”
My advice to recruiters is also very simple. Give the applicant all the information they need to be successful in the ad and on the application. If you don’t want phone calls, explain how applicants can determine the status of posted jobs. If you have already screened the resume and know that the applicant doesn’t meet the minimum criteria, generate a quick email thanking them for applying and letting them know you are pursing candidates that better meet the qualifications. Communicate how your hiring process works and what applicants can expect going forward. As a recruiter, you are most likely the first impression a candidate will have of the company. That comes with a great deal of marketing responsibility. If you understand that, then for you, the answer to the question is also very simple.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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June 17, 2010February 18, 2022

Are You Doing Strategic Planning? Probably

Strategic planning leading to growth concept

How One Typical Facilitator (Mistakenly) Concluded the Client Wasn’t Doing Strategic Planning

I got a call last week from a facilitator, asking for advice about an aspect of strategic planning. He kept asserting that his client, a manufacturer of outdoor recreational equipment, wasn’t doing strategic planning. I asked how he came to that conclusion.

He responded that, first, there was no Plan document that the client could show him. Second, they couldn’t answer his questions about what the client would do if there were changes, e.g., politically or economically, that would influence the client’s organization. The client wasn’t able to come up with a strategy. So the facilitator concluded the client was simply not doing strategic planning.

But Wasn’t the Client Doing Strategic Planning? Really?

I began asking questions in order to understand more about the client so I could give good advice to the facilitator about his strategic planning project. From the questions, I learned that the client:

Realized the “baby boomer bubble” was getting older, so he’d need to update his product line accordingly, perhaps to accommodate the “young old” (people from 60-80 years of age).
Wanted to reduce his labor costs, perhaps by outsourcing more work, especially to other countries having cheaper labor costs.
Wanted to position his company to be more competitive in the marketplace where there was increasing competition. The client especially wanted to update his unique value proposition.

I asked the facilitator how the client came to realize those priorities. The facilitator mentioned that, although the client doesn’t do planning, he does seem to stay on top of a lot of the current trends in his industry and society, and does have some ideas.

So then I asked the facilitator if the client really was doing a form of strategic planning — it just wasn’t the best form of comprehensive, explicit, research-based and systematic planning that usually is best for an organization.

Yes, the Client Was Doing Strategic Planning — Just Not the Best Planning

At this point in our conversation, the facilitator realized that he had been to quick to conclude that the client simply was not doing planning. He added that he should even affirm to the client that he had been doing planning, and that the facilitator could help the client to do it even better.

Moral of the Story: Don’t Be So Quick to Proclaim Your Clients Aren’t Planning

It seems increasingly with writers and consultants that, if an organization is not doing their particular preferred form of planning, they conclude the organization is not doing planning. (This is true especially as we’ve put for more emphasis on the need to be “strategic” — a term which has different definitions for different people. )

That conclusion can be damaging to the planners and to the working relationship with the client. Instead, recognize and affirm any planning that the client is doing.

What do you think?

(There’s a massive amount of free resources in the Strategic Planning topic in the Free Management Library.)

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.

June 17, 2010August 18, 2022

Succession Planning: Is It a Staffing Matter? No

Business executives discussing about succession planning

Succession planning is one of the most important topics in nonprofit capacity building. That wasn’t the case even 10 years ago. Today, there’s more people moving from job to job, and a large number of baby boomers retiring. Effectively filling those open positions is critical to the success of the organization.

Unfortunately, succession planning is still done quite poorly — primarily because it’s too often seen as a matter of replacing a person, rather than organizational performance management. Those two perspectives produce very different ways to do succession planning.

(Unfortunately, performance management is too often viewed only as employee performance management, and not as organizational performance management — but that’s another blog post.)

Succession planning is a management function,
not a staffing crisis.

Establish Board-approved, up-to-date personnel policies

They should include guidelines and procedures about, e.g., staffing analysis, hiring, orienting, training and organizing employees; performance management; and compensation and benefits. Those policies not only ensure fair and equitable treatment of employees — they can minimize chances that you’d lose a lawsuit with an employee.

Here’s more about personnel policies.

Conduct relevant and realistic strategic and departmental planning

The planning clarifies the most appropriate priorities for the position to address. A position, or job role, is really a means to get something done in the organization — it’s means to achieve an overall goal or address an overall priority. Why fill a position that was not designed well in the first place? Only through useful planning will the organization know if the position is designed well.

Here’s more about strategic planning.

Conduct staffing analysis to identify most appropriate roles

Too often, job roles are developed in response to recurring crises in the workplace, to an increasing amount of work that is not getting done. Instead, roles should be identified near the end of strategic planning when clarifying what expertise is needed to achieve goals. The analysis should produce up-to-date, relevant job descriptions. (There are many who assert that job descriptions are no longer a useful management tool — that’s another blog post.)

Here’s more information about staffing analysis.

Use suitable practices of employee performance management

These practices should be done regardless of whether the employee is leaving or not. They include:

Establishing performance goals in reference to the employee’s job description and priorities for the year
Techniques for effective delegation, not just work direction
Getting up-to-date descriptions from the employee about his priorities, issues, plans, etc.
Sharing useful feedback to continue to enhance the employee’s performance
Addressing performance issues when they occur (they might require training, providing more resources, getting more from the employee or firing the employee)

Here’s more about employee performance management.

Making sure all employees go on vacation

That forces the organization to learn about — and be able to do — the jobs when the employees are gone. A supervisor might not really know what his employees are actually doing to get the job done. Ironically, the better the supervisor is at delegating, the less the supervisor might know about the details of his employee’s job.

Succession planning is about developing and implementing a system, a practice of activities on a recurring basis. Then, when an employee leaves, the system almost naturally refills the position with the most suitable candidate.

Here’s more resources about succession planning.

What do you think?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

June 17, 2010August 18, 2022

How “Disconnected Conversations” Can Kill Consulting and Collaboration

A disconnected conversation between two work colleagues

Here’s an Example of a Disconnected Conversation

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine and I were talking about a particular consulting project. We just weren’t connecting in our conversation somehow — I kept repeating my points and he kept repeating his. It felt like we were disagreeing somehow, but neither of us were actually saying that we disagreed with the other. Still, we felt increasingly frustrated.

He kept asserting that the client’s CEO needed to show stronger leadership, including by being more participative.

I kept agreeing. I suggested one-on-one with his managers, ensuring time in staff meetings to hear from each manager, and using a technique for consensus when making decisions.

My friend didn’t seem convinced — and seemed even more frustrated. He asserted that the CEO needs to read “Servant Leadership” by Robert Greenleaf. I agreed.

My friend asserted that the CEO needs to do a better job of bringing out the best in his people. I agreed.

Results Versus Methods — We Should Talk About Both

Finally, it hit me — my friend was talking about overall outcomes, and I was talking about activities to achieve those outcomes. Although we both wanted the same thing, we were focusing on different aspects of that result.

I find this type of disconnected conversation occurs more than we realize, especially about grand topics, such as leadership, accountability, transparency and performance.

It’s most powerful and poignant to talk about outcomes. It can be boring and even tedious to talk about methods to achieve those outcomes.

But we owe it to our clients and ourselves to go beyond preaching at them about outcomes. That can get that from reading a book. We owe it to them to produce some relevant and realistic ideas about how to achieve those outcomes.

What do you think?

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For more resources, see the Library topics Consulting and Organizational Development.

June 17, 2010February 18, 2022

Board Competence

One of the most vexed issues when talking to people who aspire to company directorship is the simple question, ‘What does it take to be a director?’

There are few satisfactory responses. There are courses (some of which are very good and comprehensive) but none of these are accepted as proof that an aspiring director has any real potential. There are proponents of appointing ‘eminent persons’ such as successful politicians, business-people or academics in the hope that the good judgement they developed in reaching their positions of eminence will be the sort of judgement that will also serve a board. In the not-for-profit boardroom the ability to make substantial donations is often considered to be sufficient qualification for the role. But none of these criteria really touch the core of the problem; how to identify good director talent before the aspiring director has already built a board career.

This confusion over the suitable ‘entry level qualification’ for boards is exacerbated by the team-based nature of the role. In consulting to boards it becomes quickly apparent that many board problems are actually simple interpersonal or team dynamic issues that are played out at the highest (and most dangerous) level in the organisation. How can board recruiters measure the ability of an aspiring director to make a valuable contribution to the team, without losing their independence of thought?

Every board is unique and individuals who perform well on one board may fail spectacularly on another. Taking on a new board role is a nerve wracking experience for both the recruit and the recruiters. There are never any guarantees of success. At the present time we are witnessing a world in which previously well respected, widely experienced, board directors have been found lacking in judgement and have presided over corporate failures that, with the benefit of hindsight, make it obvious they never should have been given that responsibility.

Regulatory standards are of little help. All around the world there are ‘lowest common denominator’ standards that helpfully inform us that directors should be over the legal age of adulthood, out of jail, not currently banned from directing and, in some (but not all) jurisdictions, not certified as insane. These are easily measured criteria but they are also clearly not sufficient qualification for a role in which lives, as well as life’s savings may be at stake.

The work of academics studying the board provides some useful indications. There is no overwhelming statistical proof that structural board arrangements such as audit committees, balance of executive and non-executive, or of independent and non independent directors, etc. have any impact on the likely performance of the company. There have been suggestions that the slight correlations are proof that companies that are performing well can afford to fill their board with enough independent NEDs to staff the relevant committees and provide the desired ‘balance’. Companies that have performed badly often go through a process of having very engaged ‘executive-style’ boards as they right the problems and get corporate performance back on track.

The academics are generally agreed that a board that operates as a team, with effective conflict resolution and rigorous debate in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, has a better chance of driving better performance than a board that is dysfunctional and unable to reach agreement on the key issues. But the thorny problem remains; there is little way to tell which individuals will enhance the board’s dynamics before the appointment.

The use of skills matrices to ensure that the board has members who can adequately understand the issues expected to be raised as the company progresses in implementing its strategy does assist in some respects. However, the fact remains that there are still some glaring inconsistencies. Most companies need people to implement their strategies and yet very few boards have anyone with a human resources background among their members. The number of IT and marketing specialists on boards is also generally very low. Legal and financial skills are generally better represented than the softer skills. There is no doubt that understanding the law and finances is a necessary skill for every director; but is it really necessary for companies to have such a preponderance of highly qualified professionals from these two disciplines at the cost of a more balanced array of skills?

The current debate on diversity would appear to suggest that the more diverse the board the better the expected corporate performance. There is not yet any great evidence for this, especially when gender is the basis for the conversation. Perhaps looking at other types of diversity, such as skills based diversity, would give a more informed understanding of what a board really needs. Then, working back from the needs of a board, we might be able to establish a baseline for the minimum criteria a director must satisfy to be considered fit to take on the role.

For directorship to become professional, we need professional standards for directors. If only we could agree on what those standards were ….

What do you think?

June 16, 2010August 18, 2022

Transformational Leadership: What are the Differences that Make a Difference?

Business executive wearing a grey blazer

The Four Transformational Leadership Behaviors

According to Bass, transformational leadership is comprised of four primary behaviors. The first is idealized influence, when leaders act in ways consistent with their stated beliefs, goals, and values, following through on commitments, and treating people in a consistent and fair manner. The second behavior is inspirational motivation, when leaders effectively communicate visions for the future of the organization and convey how the work of individuals and teams are connected to the vision. The third behavior is referred to as intellectual stimulation, the leader’s ability to create a work environment where followers feel safe to think creatively, challenge the status quo, and come up with innovative ideas. The final behavior, individualized consideration, is when leaders help followers identify personal development goals and design customized strategies for making improvements on these goals.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership

There is empirical evidence that these four behavior areas have statistically significant impact on various indices of organizational performance and business outcomes. In my previous blog it was shared that there is a clear correlation between transformational behaviors and increased innovation, motivation, perseverance, commitment, team cohesion, and performance.

The Transformational Behaviors that Make a Difference

So what are the specific behaviors that make the difference that makes the differences? The following are a list of ten behaviors, considered to be transformational, that have an impact on some of the target areas just mentioned.

Challenging and empowering team members to think independently and consider novel solutions to old or emerging problems is believed to increase the innovative capacity of organizations (Nederveen et al, 2010)
Empowering team members to think and act independently has been shown to reduce barriers to the sharing and utilization of knowledge across organizations boundaries (Garcia-Morales et al, 2007)
Establishing a clear understanding of the connection between the tasks/values of team members and the vision/values of the organization is shown to increase individual motivation (Wolfram and Mohr, 2009)
When a leader espouses a high level of ethics and acts in accord with these ethical standards an increase in follower trust and commitment should follow – variables with a direct correlation to performance (Rafferty and Griffin, 2006)
There is an apparent link between the degree to which a leader respects and attends to the emotions and professional needs of team members and the level of team member commitment and performance (Bass, 2006)
Inspirational, enthusiastic, and animated communication of organizational vision has been shown to enhanced team cohesion (Ayoko & Callan, 2010)
Success of change initiatives increase significantly when leaders include team members in the development of the vision for the future and the demonstrate a clear commitment to that vision (Herold, et al, 2008)
Commitment to organizational change initiatives increase if leaders are expressive, confident, and are able to incorporate values into change conversations with team members (Howarth & Rafferty, 2009)
The use of image-based messages and the ability to incorporate organizational goals into a compelling vision of the future has an apparent connection with team performance (Colbert et al, 2008)
Inspiring and empowering team members to embrace and pursue challenging goals and professional development has been shown to improve project success (Prabhakar, 2005)

The above is evidence of a correlation between specific transformational behaviors and various team member and organizational outcomes. But one must ask, are these behaviors unique to transformational leadership? If not, can it really be argued that there is a connection between transformational leadership and improved organizational performance? Please feel free to share your thoughts or questions on the topic.

June 16, 2010July 15, 2022

PR Tips —and One PR Rip — for Helping A Reporter Out

The last blog looked at why Public Relations should never be confused with “spin” and “hype.” Today’s edition serves up something more tasty and nutritious — one of the best resources enjoyed and highly appreciated by publicists, marketing communications folks, reporters and others. I’m talking about Help a Reporter Out — fondly known as HARO — among the many HARO-ites that utilize the FREE online service that allows reporters to post stories they’re working to PR people who then have the opportunity to pitch their clients as sources. Think of it as a killer social media PR app.

Conceived by social media guru and all around marketing/PR wiz, Peter Shankman in New York City (Google him, he’s kinda famous, is in-demand on the speaking circuit, occasionally outrageous and likes to skydive, train for the Ironman and other body-punishing disciplines), HARO is only two-plus-years old and yet its ranks have swollen to more than a 130,000 users both sides of the desk worldwide!

Three times a day, an average of 20-35 queries on subjects ranging from business to technology to life and leisure and other areas are delivered to your desktop with hungry reporters, producers and others from local newspapers to top-of-the-media-food-chain network news machines (potenially) in search of your clients. Herr Shankman floats a brief advertisement for various things with each post, from new and helpful books to professional services, cool, new or undiscovered products, and other stuff. These apparently work as powerfully as HARO’s matchmaking between PR people and media mavens. Plus they are usually a fun read since Shankman has the gift of a good scribe and the gift of gab.

There was/is a big PR news release distributor that charges a hefty fee for a similar service that doses exactly the same thing as HARO, making it out of reach for many small PR concerns with tight budgets and small staff. Not any more. HARO is a gift, don’t look it in the mouth. Subscribe today. As subscriber number 3,000-something, I have been to its mountaintop and placed a client on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and other clients in a bunch of magazines, newspapers and websites. And I look forward to it dinging my inbox three times a day like a triple-A PR supplement that you just can’t do without.

Join the party. With the six-digit number of users, of course the competition has become fiercer — but so have the opportunities. The FREE service has been so successful that it was acquired last week by Vocus, a publicly-traded on-demand software company founded in 1992. The new buyer promises to keep it FREE and upgrade its utility even more. Stay tuned (did I mention it was FREE?!).

Now, from a fortified PR Tip to a real PR rip, in this “developing story” as they say in the real world that we will explore more on Friday: Someone today, June 16, 2010, put a phony news release on PR Newswire saying that the supply chain of General Mills — a publically traded company — was being investigated on orders from President Obama after several food product recalls. The phony news was reported by several large media orgs and later withdrawn. Talk about helping a reporter out. NOT.

Read the story here:

http://www.startribune.com/business/96474569.html?elr=KArksUUUU

We’ll chew on this more right after our Breakfast of Champions (go Celtics!) come Friday morning.

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For more resources, see the Library topic Public and Media Relations.

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